"Die!"
Kaido didn't want to leave any loose ends.
His kanabo club slammed down on the cat-masked agent's skull.
The crushing impact and internal destruction from Advanced Armament Haki made the Weapon-Weapon Fruit user feel every bone in his body shatter.
Pain flooded his nerves — and then silence. His body twitched once before going completely limp.
Right beside him, Sharn brought his five fingers together — combining Fishman Karate and Shigan (Shigan) techniques.
He coated his hands in electricity and flame, compressing his power into a single strike so devastating that the surrounding cabins and deck splintered apart.
Crack!
The hound-masked agent's skull split open.
Even as he died, he didn't beg for mercy.
From the day he began serving the Five Elders, the hound had believed one thing:
"The Celestial Dragons are justice itself."
To him, this world was created by the Celestial Dragons — therefore, they had the right to control everything, even his life.
Strength meant nothing if it wasn't theirs.
Even the Fleet Admiral and the Admirals, when standing before the Celestial Dragons, bowed their heads.
What a joke.
Even the strongest men alive had to kneel to corruption.
"If the Celestial Dragons aren't destroyed," Sharn thought coldly, "then pirates will never stop being born. Great evils will keep breeding smaller ones."
Sharn wasn't chaotic.
He wasn't righteous.
He was pure evil — deliberate and intelligent.
He wasn't fighting to "liberate" the world.
He wanted to rule it.
Like Rocks D. Xebec before him, he would become the next King of the World, but unlike Rocks, he would not share power.
To achieve that, he would:
Protect the strong through his authority.
Promise freedom and wealth only when it benefited him.
Destroy anyone who dared defy him.
That was Sharn's way.
Crack!
The hound's neck twisted until it snapped. His head drooped lifelessly to one side.
Two fruits appeared beside the corpses — reborn Devil Fruits.
No dark cloth or tricks like Blackbeard's were needed.
When a Devil Fruit user dies, their bloodline factor disperses into the air and reincarnates nearby.
Using his Paw-Paw Fruit, Sharn simply extracted the dying essence and transferred it into two normal fruits he had prepared beforehand.
They warped in his hands — reforming into the Weapon-Weapon Fruit and Disease-Disease Fruit.
Kaido blinked in disbelief.
"What did you just do?"
"Just cleaning up," Sharn replied, tossing both corpses into the sea.
He then turned to Spandine, who lay unconscious nearby.
Condensing water vapor through Fishman Karate, Sharn slapped him hard across the face.
"Wake up."
Grabbing the man by his collar, Sharn lifted him off the ground.
"P-Please! Don't kill me!"
Spandine's eyes darted about wildly.
Just moments ago, he had commanded ten warships, CP0, CP9, and countless Marines — and now all of them were gone.
Burning. Sinking. Dead.
"CP0… defeated? Impossible…"
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shook the flagship.
A massive figure landed — Evil Wolf, carrying an entire Marine ship on his back, hurled it into the sea like a toy.
"Let Molly send you back to the ocean!" he bellowed.
Molly raised her enormous trident. The waves surged under her command.
With the fork as a medium, she could manipulate seawater safely — like Brook walking over the sea or Big Mom giving her waves souls.
The waves devoured the remaining Marines.
Gunfire rattled from behind the masts.
Ginny, crouched low, fired her flintlock with unshakable aim.
Olvia, calm and elegant, shot down officers with a rifle.
Moria, having grown more adept with the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, was already trying to create an army of shadow warriors.
"End it!"
Kuma unleashed a Shockwave Cannon, scattering soldiers into the air.
He wasn't as ruthless as Sharn — most of his attacks knocked enemies into the sea rather than killing them outright.
But for Devil Fruit users, that was as good as death.
"Karma Strike!"
Urki, after taking a hit, doubled in size and smashed a Marine officer into the deck with a counterpunch.
Only Kuzan still struggled.
Sword in one hand, fist in the other, he hadn't yet found his fighting rhythm.
A CP9 operative's kicks and strikes overwhelmed him completely.
"Damn it… this is the real mastery of the Six Powers?" Kuzan spat blood.
"But… I'm still… not… dead…"
He staggered upright, lungs burning, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
The CP9 agent frowned. "Still standing, kid?!"
Kuzan grinned despite his pain.
"I'm burning justice! I'm youth! I don't fall that easily!"
The CP9 agent blinked, confused.
"A pirate… preaching about justice? What are you, an idiot?"
"Who says only the Marines can have justice?" Kuzan roared.
He threw a desperate punch — but his body gave out. The agent countered, raising a foot for a killing blow.
Just then—
Crack!
A foot slammed into the agent's shin, snapping it clean in two.
"Are you hurting my trainee?"
Sharn's leg, sheathed in Armament Haki, hit like a hammer.
One kick broke the bone — the next shattered ribs — the third crushed his spine.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Sharn muttered, kicking him overboard into the sea.
Kuzan, bloodied but breathing, watched in silence.
For the first time, he understood the cruelty of the sea.
"Kid," Sharn said softly, "you almost died there."
He pressed a glowing paw against Kuzan's chest — repelling the pain and fatigue out of his body.
Then, turning, he did the same for the rest of his crew — pulling the pain from them and sending it flying back toward their enemies.
BOOM!
The Marines screamed in agony as Sharn's "pain bomb" burst among them.
The last few CP9 agents fell, broken and beaten.
Meanwhile, the Den-Den Mushi in Spandine's pocket began to ring.
He froze — but Sharn forced the receiver into his hand.
The Five Elders' voices came through, cold and furious:
"Spandine! Have you dealt with that trash yet?"
Spandine swallowed hard. His throat was dry. He'd die if he stayed silent.
"Speak, you fool!" one Elder roared.
Spandine stammered, "The pirate Sharn… told me to give you a message…"
Sweat drenched his face.
"He said — 'We're heading for the Grand Line now.'"
"If anyone dares to stop us — try it."
The line went dead.
The Five Elders' faces twisted in rage.
They slammed the receiver down, veins bulging.
Back on deck, Sharn smirked.
"Tell me, Spandine," he said. "If I throw you east, will five days and nights of flying be enough to reach the Red Line?"
"Please—no—!"
Too late.
Whoosh!
Spandine flew screaming into the horizon — beginning his five-day, five-night flight to death.
Kuma watched quietly. He finally understood Sharn:
Ruthless to enemies, but completely loyal to his crew.
The massive ship turned toward the rising current of Reverse Mountain.
Thunder roared. Rain poured.
The CP9 fell one by one.
The Marines burned.
And the Sharn Pirates grew stronger once again.
As the ship rose along the torrent, Sharn found a small oak barrel.
Inside it — the two newly reborn Devil Fruits.
He held them up.
"Who wants to become a Devil Fruit user?"
Gulp.
Ginny, eyes wide, picked the Disease-Disease Fruit first.
She bit in — and instantly gagged.
"Blegh! It's disgusting, Captain Sharn!"
Olvia and Kuzan exchanged glances over the Weapon-Weapon Fruit.
Kuzan shook his head. "Not yet. I'll grow stronger on my own first."
Olvia smiled faintly, cut off a piece, and forced it down.
The ship surged upward, crossing the waterfall peak.
Before them lay the Grand Line's entrance — a maze of raging streams and mist.
Sharn gripped the prow, laughter echoing across the storm.
"Grand Line—"
"We're coming!"
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